Boy Receives $14,500,000.00 after suffering brain injury while playing baseball

[CLW]

Just put us all in protective bubbles already and kill the lawyers.

$14.5 million (lawyer likely takes home roughly just less than $5M)

Lawsuit claimed metal bats are dangerous.

Look it sucks what happened to him but to sue Little League; Sporting Goods Companies; and the bat manufacturer is ridiculous. (Why not see the baseball maker too b/c they didn't make the ball soft and squishy or like a whiffle ball) Anyone that follows baseball knows that your child can be seriously injured playing the sport.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/14-5m-b...7443--spt.html

[oweb26]

I firmly believe they should make it illegal to have these kind of lawsuits. The company, little league, did nothing wrong it was just an unfortunate accident.

No shit metal bats are dangerous, ITS BECAUSE THEY ARE METAL!!, I have heard that wodden ones hurt also, lets not even began to talk about aluminum.

This stuff is really stupid.

[CLW]

I firmly believe they should make it illegal to have these kind of lawsuits. The company, little league, did nothing wrong it was just an unfortunate accident.

No shit metal bats are dangerous, ITS BECAUSE THEY ARE METAL!!, I have heard that wodden ones hurt also, lets not even began to talk about aluminum.

This stuff is really stupid.

Yeah its been REALLY BAD for a LONG time. If someone could find me another job that pays what I make now or pay off my lawschool loans I'd quit in a nano-second.

[SmoothPancakes]

Well, that takes of my "I fucking hate this country" story for today.

[ram29jackson]

dont they sign the usual waiver before playing ?

[Tarhead10]

dont they sign the usual waiver before playing ?

No they dont have waivers for common sense.....

[CLW]

dont they sign the usual waiver before playing ?

Even if they did a minor child cannot be bound by a contract. So the parents are probably barred from suing but the child would not be.

[baseballplyrmvp]

Anyone that follows baseball knows that your child can be seriously injured playing the sport.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/14-5m-b...7443--spt.html

after my senior year of high school, but before my frosh year of jc baseball, i was pitching for a summer team and got hit by a line drive on the shoulder of my throwing arm. if the ball were 4 inches to the left of where it hit me, would've clocked me right square in the face....probably would've shattered an eye socket.


i'm normally against lawsuits like this, but i'm a little more forgiving towards it, since it sent him into cardiac arrest.

[baseballplyrmvp]

Even if they did a minor child cannot be bound by a contract. So the parents are probably barred from suing but the child would not be.

usually, there is a waiver, but it's something along the likes that the little league isnt responsible for child injuries. it sucks the kid got injured, but thats the risk he took by playing sports, especially with being a pitcher in baseball.

[SmoothPancakes]

after my senior year of high school, but before my frosh year of jc baseball, i was pitching for a summer team and got hit by a line drive on the shoulder of my throwing arm. if the ball were 4 inches to the left of where it hit me, would've clocked me right square in the face....probably would've shattered an eye socket.


i'm normally against lawsuits like this, but i'm a little more forgiving towards it, since it sent him into cardiac arrest.

Yeah, but $14.5 million? Suing the bat maker, a fucking sporting goods store and Little League baseball? It was a freak accident. It's sports. Shit happens. I got my left forearm, both bones, broken my junior year of high school in football. Apparently I should have sued the school and the helmet manufacturer that caused my arm to get broken, causing me to get taken to the hospital by ambulance, spend the next 8 hours that night in two different hospitals to get the bones in my arm reset and cast applied, caused me to miss the remaining 2/3rds of my junior season, caused me to lose half a year of practice and training that I would have otherwise had, lost me a starting position my senior year that I could have possibly had if not for that lost half a year, and affected my grades as I am left handed and thus was almost virtually unable to take full notes on lessons in class since I could do nothing more than chicken scratch with my right arm.

I could probably also have sued the hospitals for malpractice or something as they fucked up during the whole debacle, as the first hospital gave me a dose of pain medicine and other drugs, then after I got transported to the second hospital, either no one at the first hospital bothered to write down what drugs I was given, or no one at the second hospital bothered to check my records, as I was given a second dose of the exact same pain medicine and other drugs, drugging me to such an extent that when the nurses finally woke me up out of my drug induced sleep/half-coma, I couldn't remember my own fucking name, I couldn't remember where I was, I couldn't remember what had even just happened to me, I couldn't recognize my own parents standing there next to me, nor their names, I couldn't remember what city I lived in, I couldn't remember the name of my high school. It was hours laters, almost 2am, before some of the drugs finally started to wear off and my memory started to return, and I could finally be released and sent home.

Fuck, I could have had a payday and be filthy rich right now. Where the fuck was a sleazy lawyer without a fucking soul back then?

[baseballplyrmvp]

dont get me wrong, smooth, it was way overkill. and ya, it was a freak accident. personally, no one should have been sued, but at the same time, i dont think the parents should have to foot the entire bill for the kid's medical expenses.

[SmoothPancakes]

dont get me wrong, smooth, it was way overkill. and ya, it was a freak accident. personally, no one should have been sued, but at the same time, i dont think the parents should have to foot the entire bill for the kid's medical expenses.

Yeah, trying to get some money to cover the medical bills, especially if the douchebag insurance companies wouldn't pay or cover them, alright, maybe, depending on if you sue to get that money and who you sue. But suing a fucking sporting goods store(!), the bat maker, the Little League organization and getting $14.5 million, it had nothing to do with covering medical bills. They saw "PAY DAY!" (or at least the lawyer did) and they went for the instant and easy money grab. They might talk smooth and say they were suing for this reason or that reason, but all they wanted was an easy payday like a bunch of greedy fucks.

[baseballplyrmvp]

no i completely agree with you that suing the little league, sporting goods store, and bat maker was retarded, but guaranteed money. and you're sure as hell right about it being the dumbfuck lawyers who bring the epic to light.

i know this is a pipe dream, but for situations like this, i wish our professional athletes contributed to a combined purse every year, which would be specifically designed for these kind of freak accidents for young kids. however, that too, would likely have a whole bunch of lawsuits, as stupid ass parents who feel their kid is the next babe ruth, would try to get a big pay day because little johnny broke his ankle. then, you'd eliminate people and companies who are not responsible for injuries, from being sued.

[JeffHCross]

Yeah, trying to get some money to cover the medical bills

If you believe that ''He still can't perform any functions of daily life on his own.'' (which I would believe, given the description of injuries, but I'm less inclined to believe because it was a lawyer talking), and you assume a reasonable lifetime (like, say, middle age), then his medical bills are going to be pretty pricey. I don't know what kind of numbers that would be, but a reasonable percentage of this amount could merely cover medical bills. Especially if it's not a lump sum payment and is spread over 50 years or so.

Now, that said, it was clearly an attempt to maximize the settlement by suing as many companies as possible, especially companies that couldn't afford to be seen as taking advantage of the victim or "fighting" this case. The fact that the case took two years to be filed is enough to raise my cynic meter.

[SCClassof93]

dont get me wrong, smooth, it was way overkill. and ya, it was a freak accident. personally, no one should have been sued, but at the same time, i dont think the parents should have to foot the entire bill for the kid's medical expenses.

Then those parents should be proactive and responsible and avoid letting their kids engage in activities that may lead to the need of medical attention.

[morsdraconis]

Then those parents should be proactive and responsible and avoid letting their kids engage in activities that may lead to the need of medical attention.

Ding ding ding!

[JeffHCross]

If you believe that ''He still can't perform any functions of daily life on his own.'' (which I would believe, given the description of injuries, but I'm less inclined to believe because it was a lawyer talking), and you assume a reasonable lifetime (like, say, middle age), then his medical bills are going to be pretty pricey. I don't know what kind of numbers that would be, but a reasonable percentage of this amount could merely cover medical bills. Especially if it's not a lump sum payment and is spread over 50 years or so.

Just to underscore this, ESPN had a story tonight on a Youth Football player who had his neck broken while making a tackle. It's only been a year, and his medical bills have already surpassed $2 million. I imagine there was a significant up front cost because of the injury, so I wouldn't expect the costs to continue at that rate, but wow.

[CLW]

Just to underscore this, ESPN had a story tonight on a Youth Football player who had his neck broken while making a tackle. It's only been a year, and his medical bills have already surpassed $2 million. I imagine there was a significant up front cost because of the injury, so I wouldn't expect the costs to continue at that rate, but wow.

Yeah medical care ain't cheap. Translation: if you don't have good health insurance for your child you should think twice before putting them out there to play sports b/c they could easily become severely injured.

Look bad things happen but to sue a league, bat maker and a sporting goods store for a freak occurrence just isn't right on a whole host of reasons both legally and on a policy basis.

[JeffHCross]

Agreed on the legal/moral/ethic basis, CLW. I was just stunned by how quickly his medical bills have grown.

[CLW]

Agreed on the legal/moral/ethic basis, CLW. I was just stunned by how quickly his medical bills have grown.

Well I'm assuming the following

#1 the child has probably undergone multiple surgeries to repair the broken bone(s)

#2 the child is undergoing extensive physical rehabilitation

#3 the child may require around the clock medical treatment